Scott Milner joined the Chemical Engineering faculty at Penn State University in January 2008, where he holds the William H. Joyce Chair.

Milner was a research physicist at ExxonMobil Corporate Strategic Research from 1989 to 2008.
He received his Ph.D. in theoretical condensed-matter physics from Harvard University in 1986, after which he held postdoctoral positions at Exxon and AT&T Bell Labs before returning to Exxon in 1989.

In 1993 Milner was awarded the John H. Dillon Medal of the American Physical Society for his work on polymer brushes, copolymer mesophase ordering, and effects of flow on polymer solutions.
He is a Fellow of the American Physical Society, served as Chair of the Division of Polymer Physics in 2001-2002. and is currently division councillor for the APS Division of Polymer Physics.